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April 25 2014
Following the Global Armenian Diaspora
By DAVID GONZALEZ
Scout Tufankjian recalls childhood afternoons at her grandmother's
house, paging through Armenian magazines and wondering about the
people she saw in photos from all over the globe.
"I used to wonder, what did I have in common with these people?" Ms.
Tufankjian said. "What did a kid in Boston have in common with them?
What does it mean to be Armenian if you grow up in Calcutta or Buenos
Aires?"
While Armenians had long settled in other parts of the world, the
violence of the Armenian genocide in Turkey -- begun 99 years ago -- set
in motion a global exodus that has established communities in many
corners of the world. Through her own travels and curiosity, Ms.
Tufankjian has come to appreciate that diaspora's diversity, which she
saw as a much-needed addition to the traditional historical view of
her people.
Since 2008, she has traveled to these outposts to document Armenian
life for a book that she hopes will come out next year and for which
she just began a Kickstarter campaign.
"The real driving force of this project has been my frustration that
Armenians were largely only known as victims, and that most available
literature about our community has us dying out or disappearing in
1915, which is absurd," she said. "Armenians are a strong, vibrant
diaspora with over eight million Armenians living in over 85 countries
across the globe. I wanted to tell the story of that survival."
Ms. Tufankjian grew up in Boston, the daughter of an Armenian father
and an Irish mother. Her maternal grandparents died when she was an
infant, and she spent a lot of time with her Armenian grandparents,
whose families had fled central Anatolia before the genocide.
"My great-grandparents had come over after a series of pogroms in the
late 1800s," she said. "After one of them, my family got the hint and
left."
The Boston area is home to one of the largest Armenian communities in
the United States and dates back several generations. The country's
largest Armenian community is in Los Angeles, where hundreds of
thousands -- from the descendants of genocide survivors to more recent
refugees from Egypt and Syria -- have settled.
Being half-Armenian, Ms. Tufankjian said, spurred her to think about
her identity -- perhaps more so than for someone who is 100 percent
Armenian and might take her heritage for granted. As a bookish child,
she was always trying to learn more about Armenian culture.
"But when you go to a library or bookstore, most of the stories you
find are the genocide narrative," she said. "I'm not saying that is
not important, but the Armenian diaspora today is complex, with
diverse and thriving communities, and there was nowhere to go and find
out about the diaspora. I set out to create the kind of portrait of
the diaspora that reflects where Armenians are today."
Her work covering Barack Obama's first presidential campaign led to a
book, which gave her the financial cushion to begin her project. Her
first trip took her to Brazil, where some 20,000 Armenians lived
spread out in São Paulo. Aided by local groups, she was led to
potential subjects and learned about other communities. She has since
gone to photograph larger communities in Lebanon and even the
dwindling community in Ethiopia, where she photographed a young boy at
a church service.
"Being half-Armenian, I liked the Ethiopian community," she said. "The
altar boy is half-Armenian and half-Ethiopian. They consider
themselves Armenian and Ethiopian."
In Lebanon, Ms. Tufankjian said, she found communities where people
resettled entire villages dating to when they fled Turkey, and have
kept traditions dating back centuries. Some of her pictures show
wedding rituals, like when the groom's family has a party and revelers
accompany musicians to the bride's home (or when the best man is
"kidnapped" and has to be ransomed).
Some of those traditions survive only symbolically in other locales.
In New York, she noted, there was concern that young people at
Armenian events speak English.
Her project has allowed Ms. Tufankjian to explore the depth of ethnic identity.
"As with any group, there are bits you fit into and bits you don't,"
she said. "But realizing there are communities diverse enough to
embrace all those different aspects has been great. It's a complex,
diverse community."
Just look at her first name, Scout.
"My parents were obsessed with 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' " she said.
"If I had been a boy, I would be Atticus. People never misspell my
last name. But I get called Scott a lot."
http://news.gnom.es/news/following-the-global-armenian-diaspora
April 25 2014
Following the Global Armenian Diaspora
By DAVID GONZALEZ
Scout Tufankjian recalls childhood afternoons at her grandmother's
house, paging through Armenian magazines and wondering about the
people she saw in photos from all over the globe.
"I used to wonder, what did I have in common with these people?" Ms.
Tufankjian said. "What did a kid in Boston have in common with them?
What does it mean to be Armenian if you grow up in Calcutta or Buenos
Aires?"
While Armenians had long settled in other parts of the world, the
violence of the Armenian genocide in Turkey -- begun 99 years ago -- set
in motion a global exodus that has established communities in many
corners of the world. Through her own travels and curiosity, Ms.
Tufankjian has come to appreciate that diaspora's diversity, which she
saw as a much-needed addition to the traditional historical view of
her people.
Since 2008, she has traveled to these outposts to document Armenian
life for a book that she hopes will come out next year and for which
she just began a Kickstarter campaign.
"The real driving force of this project has been my frustration that
Armenians were largely only known as victims, and that most available
literature about our community has us dying out or disappearing in
1915, which is absurd," she said. "Armenians are a strong, vibrant
diaspora with over eight million Armenians living in over 85 countries
across the globe. I wanted to tell the story of that survival."
Ms. Tufankjian grew up in Boston, the daughter of an Armenian father
and an Irish mother. Her maternal grandparents died when she was an
infant, and she spent a lot of time with her Armenian grandparents,
whose families had fled central Anatolia before the genocide.
"My great-grandparents had come over after a series of pogroms in the
late 1800s," she said. "After one of them, my family got the hint and
left."
The Boston area is home to one of the largest Armenian communities in
the United States and dates back several generations. The country's
largest Armenian community is in Los Angeles, where hundreds of
thousands -- from the descendants of genocide survivors to more recent
refugees from Egypt and Syria -- have settled.
Being half-Armenian, Ms. Tufankjian said, spurred her to think about
her identity -- perhaps more so than for someone who is 100 percent
Armenian and might take her heritage for granted. As a bookish child,
she was always trying to learn more about Armenian culture.
"But when you go to a library or bookstore, most of the stories you
find are the genocide narrative," she said. "I'm not saying that is
not important, but the Armenian diaspora today is complex, with
diverse and thriving communities, and there was nowhere to go and find
out about the diaspora. I set out to create the kind of portrait of
the diaspora that reflects where Armenians are today."
Her work covering Barack Obama's first presidential campaign led to a
book, which gave her the financial cushion to begin her project. Her
first trip took her to Brazil, where some 20,000 Armenians lived
spread out in São Paulo. Aided by local groups, she was led to
potential subjects and learned about other communities. She has since
gone to photograph larger communities in Lebanon and even the
dwindling community in Ethiopia, where she photographed a young boy at
a church service.
"Being half-Armenian, I liked the Ethiopian community," she said. "The
altar boy is half-Armenian and half-Ethiopian. They consider
themselves Armenian and Ethiopian."
In Lebanon, Ms. Tufankjian said, she found communities where people
resettled entire villages dating to when they fled Turkey, and have
kept traditions dating back centuries. Some of her pictures show
wedding rituals, like when the groom's family has a party and revelers
accompany musicians to the bride's home (or when the best man is
"kidnapped" and has to be ransomed).
Some of those traditions survive only symbolically in other locales.
In New York, she noted, there was concern that young people at
Armenian events speak English.
Her project has allowed Ms. Tufankjian to explore the depth of ethnic identity.
"As with any group, there are bits you fit into and bits you don't,"
she said. "But realizing there are communities diverse enough to
embrace all those different aspects has been great. It's a complex,
diverse community."
Just look at her first name, Scout.
"My parents were obsessed with 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' " she said.
"If I had been a boy, I would be Atticus. People never misspell my
last name. But I get called Scott a lot."
http://news.gnom.es/news/following-the-global-armenian-diaspora